8 Simple Exercises for Knee Pain Relief

The following 8 exercises are taken from Treat Your Own Knee by Robin McKenzie, a New Zealand born Physiotherapist whose McKenzie Method is currently the most studied diagnostic treatment system for back pain. This exercise program will give you an opportunity to treat your own knee pain and regain pain-free movement.

Important Note: For optimal knee pain relief, it’s recommended to do the following stretches 10 times every two hours until you go to bed.

Knee Pain Relief Exercises You Can Do At Home

Exercise 1: Active Knee Extension in Sitting

Start by sitting upright in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Slowly lift the foot of your painful knee and straighten your leg until you feel your quadriceps (thighs) contract.

Hold for 2 seconds and then return your foot to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.

Exercise 2: Knee Extension in Sitting

Sit in a chair and place the heel of the painful knee on a chair or stool of similar height with your knee slightly bent and toes pointing up. With a relaxed knee, slowly straighten your leg. Hold for 2 seconds and then return your knee to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.

Now reach forward with both hands and place them just above your knee. Slowly push down and straighten your knees with your hands until you feel a slight stretch behind the knee. Hold for 2 seconds and return to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.

*Helpful Tip: Remember to move just into the pain and then release the pressure.

Exercise 3: Knee Extension in Standing*

Stand upright and place the heel of your painful knee on a low step, stool or on the floor. Slowly reach forward with both hands, placing them just above your knee.

Slowly push down and straighten your knees with your hands until you feel a good knee stretch. Hold for 2 seconds and return to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.

*If your pain is on the inside of the knee, rotate your foot outward while doing this knee extension exercise. Likewise, if your pain is on the outside of the knee, rotate your foot inward while doing this knee extension exercise.

Exercise 4: Knee Flexion in Sitting

Begin by sitting in an upright position. Slowly bend your knee and with both hands placed above your ankle, pull your leg up towards your chest. Pulling your heel towards your buttocks and hold for 2 seconds. Then return your knee to the starting position and repeat 10 times.

Exercise 5: Knee Flexion in Standing

Stand upright and place the heel of your painful knee on a chair or stool. If you need, hold onto the chair for balance. Slowly lean forward and push your buttock towards your heel until you feel a good knee stretch. Hold for 2 seconds and repeat 10 times.

*If this exercise is uncomfortable, try placing a rolled up hand towel behind the knee, and this should relieve the discomfort.

Exercise 6: Knee Flexion in Kneeling

Start kneeling on all fours with a cushion underneath your knees for support. Slowly kneel back on your heels with your hands on the floor in front of you until you feel a firm stretch in your knees. Hold this position for 2 seconds, and repeat 6 to 10 times.

Now do the stretch again, but this time lift your hands off the floor and sit on your heels. Hold for 2 seconds, then return to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.

Exercise 7: Knee Strengthening in Standing, Chair Squat Holding Door Knob*

Stand upright with feet shoulder width apart and a chair behind you and an open door in front of you, so you can hold onto both door knobs. Slowly sit back until you feel a firm tension in the muscles around the knee. Repeat 10-15 times twice a day.

*Remember to keep your knees pointing forward and lowering your hips until your buttocks almost touch the chair, but don’t let it.

Exercise 8: Knee Strengthening in Standing, One-Legged Knee Bend

Stand upright on the leg with the knee pain, along the edge of a step using a chair for support. Bend your painful leg, so your pain-free leg is slowly lowered below the level of the step toward the floor until you feel a a firm tension in the muscles around the knee. The lowering phase should take 3-5 seconds. Make sure to keep the center of your knee pointing forward. Hold this position for 2 seconds and repeat 10-15 times twice a day.

Great job! Now you’re on the road to recovery to experiencing knee pain relief.

If you liked this article, you might also be interested in learning about the Knee Injury Solution, a step-by-step program designed to help you decrease knee pain, improve knee movement, strengthen your knee, increase range of motion, increase balance and prevent a future knee injury.

Morgan Sutherland

Poor posture can eventually lead to acute back pain, and when that strikes, desperation follows, and finding a quick fix to improve your downgraded quality of life can sometimes lead down the dark path of painkillers and other drastic measures. In Back To The Past: 9 Ways To Free Yourself From Back Pain So You Can Feel Like Yourself Again, you’ll learn a sequence of stretches, strengthening exercises and self-massage methods that will give you control over your pain and reverse the damage of bad posture and current (or future) back problems.